When Jaime Munguia defends his WBO Junior Middleweight Title against Takeshi Inoue on Jan. 26 at Toyota Center, there will be plenty of boxing fans trying to ascertain if the 22-year-old is ready for a bigger challenge.

Munguia (31-0, 26 KOs) really jumped on people's radar when he won the belt from Sadam Ali in dominating fashion in May. He's been impressive in his two title defenses since then, including a prime spot as the co-main event on the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin card in September.

Munguia will need to continue his impressive run for people to start clamoring for him to move up in weight and get a big-money fight against Canelo or Golovkin.

"I don't think there is any pressure with being mentioned with names like Canelo and Golovkin," Munguia said. "I like this. It's fun. I'm happy to be in fights like this and to see that we are advancing. So, the truth is we are happy.

"I am conscious of what I am doing. I think I can move up to 160 pounds and fight any of the two. It's a risk because there will always be risks. Those are the two best fighters in the world. We would have to be very careful and come very well prepared. I don't think it would happen soon, so we have to see what the future holds for us."

First, Munguia will have to take care of Inoue (13-0-1, 7 KOs), who will be making his United States debu.

"Takeshi Inoue is a strong fighter. He comes forward. He doesn't mind taking a punch in order to land one," Munguia said. "We have to be careful with that and come very prepared. We have to be careful with his right hand as well. We're going to come very well prepared on Jan. 26."